And to think that he still has two days of competition left, and four finals to go. American gymnast Simone Biles won the 21st world title of her career on Friday October 6 in Antwerp (Belgium), winning the all-around with a score of 58.399.
In a sea of ??glitter embodied by his blue outfit, the 26-year-old athlete once again produced a competition worthy of his standards, achieving the highest score on three of the four apparatuses. Only the uneven bars, the apparatus that is least successful for him, escaped him.
Already winning the team title on Wednesday, Simone Biles climbed onto a world podium for the 27th time and, despite the routine, it was with moist eyes that the gymnast reached the top step.
“Actually, I had something in my eye that I couldn’t get out, I swear it’s true,” she justified. “But I was still moved! Ten years ago I won my first world title here and we are back here. It means a lot to me, seeing as how I fought to come back and feel confident enough to compete. »
A breathtaking return
Simone Biles makes a breathtaking comeback in Antwerp, two years after the grueling Tokyo Olympics marked by the episode of “twisties”, these sudden losses of any reference in space, which forced her to withdraw from most of the tests.
Back at the high level, the little 1.42m Texan seems put into orbit for the Paris Games after taking advantage of her break to take care of her mental health. “She always has difficulties, she is not perfect,” said her trainer, Frenchwoman Cécile Landi. But, “she proves to everyone that she can be better than before (…) She is like wine, she gets better with age! »
During qualifying, the American added a new line to her legend by successfully completing a unique jump of extreme difficulty which now bears her name. On Friday, spectators at the Flemish city’s Sportpaleis witnessed another extremely rare event when the four-time Olympic champion literally tripped her feet in the mat on a jump that seemed innocuous towards the end of her floor program.
The incident, accompanied by “ooohs” and “aaahs” from the public and which seemed to make the American smile, did not, however, have any consequences in the ranking. “I tripped… I’m actually quite clumsy in life outside of the gym so it doesn’t surprise me that much that it happened,” explained the American. “I felt like my legs were heavy and I couldn’t carry them. »
“A 100% black podium, I found that incredible”
The Brazilian Rebeca Andrade (56.766), title holder, and another American, Shilese Jones (56.332) complete the podium, entirely composed of black gymnasts, as pointed out by Simone Biles.
“We had a 100% black podium, I found it incredible: “Black girl magic!” », smiled the Texan. “I hope it shows little girls that anything is possible if you set your mind to it and train hard. » In 2013 for her first world championships, Simone Biles became the first black gymnast to win the all-around at the worlds.
On the French side, Mélanie De Jesus Dos Santos finished tenth, penalized by a fall on the uneven bars, two days after winning the team bronze medal. “I wanted to do too well, as usual. It didn’t happen, I’m a little disappointed but I did my best,” reacted the Martinican. The other tricolor entered in the final, Morgane Osyssek, took fourteenth place.
